Name Wilhelm Duke | Coronation date 1991 | |
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Parents Princess Iniga of Thurn and Taxis Grandparents Prince Ludwig Philipp of Thurn and Taxis, Princess Elisabeth of Luxembourg People also search for | ||
Prince Wilhelm Albert Raphael Maria of Urach, Count of Württemberg, 5th Duke of Urach (German: Wilhelm Albert Fürst von Urach, Graf von Württemberg, 5. Herzog von Urach; born on 9 August 1957), is the head of the morganatic Urach branch of the dynasty which reigned as kings of Württemberg in Germany until 1918.
Contents
Life
Prince Wilhelm Albert was born at Hohenberg Castle near Seeshaupt, Bavaria, the son of Prince Eberhard of Urach and Princess Iniga of Thurn and Taxis. He is the grandson and heir of Wilhelm, 2nd Duke of Urach, who was offered the throne of Lithuania in anticipation of its conversion to an independent post-World War I kingdom, but he declined the crown in November 1919, as the prospect of a Baltic monarchy lost momentum. In October 1924 Duke Wilhelm also renounced his claim to the throne of Monaco. The Urachs' ducal and princely titles ceased being insignia of rank when the German Empire fell and the republican regime which succeeded it decreed in 1919 that hereditary titles would henceforth simply be treated as surnames, carrying no legal privileges. Urach had, in fact, been a dukedom in name only, to which no territorial duchy had been attached.
Prince Wilhelm Albert succeeded his brother Karl Anselm as titular Duke of Urach when the latter renounced the headship of the family at Niederaichbach on 9 February 1991, upon the occasion of his marriage to a commoner.
He is described as an engineer who lives at Ossenberg Castle near Düsseldorf. He and his family also remain in possession of the House of Urach's historical family seat, Lichtenstein Castle, south of Stuttgart, which is open to the public.
Marriage and issue
Prince Wilhelm Albert's marriage with Karen von Brauchitsch-Berghe von Trips (who was born in Rimburg Castle on 24 September 1959 to Konrad von Brauchitsch, member of a noble family of Limburg known since the 12th century, and wife Mariette Hermans, and who had been adopted in 1988 by her great uncle Count Clemens Berghe von Trips) was celebrated religiously at Rimburg in Limburg on 1 February 1992, the couple having been wed civilly on 23 December 1991 at Rheinberg in Wessel. They have one son and two daughters:
Ancestry
Through his father's side he is a grand uncle of 3rd cousin of Albert II of Monaco and a great grand uncle of Princess Alexandra of Hanover.
Through his mother's mother he is a 2nd cousin of Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Prince Luitpold of Bavaria, Rüdiger, Margrave of Meissen
and through his mother's father he is a 7th cousin of Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, Prince Lorenz of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este, Prince Aimone, Duke of Apulia, Princess Margareta of Romania, Princess Leonie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Donatus, Landgrave of Hesse
6th cousin of Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia, Bernhard, Hereditary Prince of Baden, Felipe VI of Spain, Louis Alphonse, Duke of Anjou, Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, Margrethe II of Denmark, Queen Anne-Marie of Greece, Henri, Count of Paris, Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia
5th cousin of Charles, Prince of Wales, Karl von Habsburg, Alois, Hereditary Prince of Liechtenstein,
4th cousin of Philippe of Belgium, Sophie, Hereditary Princess of Liechtenstein, Karl Friedrich, Prince of Hohenzollern, Bernhard, Hereditary Prince of Baden
3rd cousin of Borwin, Duke of Mecklenburg and Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia
and 2nd cousin of Albert, 12th Prince of Thurn and Taxis and Alexander, Margrave of Meissen